Created By Atul GantaMr. BelvinAP Government Honors Civics - 2013Jordan High School

Engel v. Vitale

·Case: Engel v. Vitale· Year: 1962

· Result: 6-1, favor Engel· Related constitutional issue/amendment:Amendment 1: Establishment of Religion· Civil rights or Civil liberties: Civil Liberties· Significance/Precedent: The issue of prayer was/is unconstitutional. By providing the prayer, New York officially approved religion. This was the first case in which the Court used the establishment clause the attempt to establish a religion. · Quote from majority opinion: "The religious nature of prayer was recognized by Jefferson, and has been concurred in by theological writers, the United States Supreme court, and State courts and administrative officials, including New York's Commissioner of Education. A committee of the New York legislature has agreed.The petitioners contend... that the state laws requiring or permitting use of the Regents' prayer must be struck down as a violation of the Establishment Clause... We agree with this contention since we think that, in this country, it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by government. The New York laws officially prescribing the Regent's prayer are inconsistent both with the purposes of the Establishment Clause and with the Establishment Clause itself."· Illustration/image: See Below· 6-word summary: NY State Prayer, No Religious Establishment